REPORT OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION To the Legislature: Pursuant to the provisions of section 46 of the Labor Law, the Industrial Commission herewith presents its report of the operations of the Department of Labor for the year ending September 30th, 1915. Included herewith and made part hereof are reports of the chiefs of the various bureaus of the Department, together with statistical tables and other data. The report of the State Insurance Fund, submitted herewith, is made for the calendar year ending December 31st, 1915, rather than for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 1915. The advantages of reporting for the calendar year will be apparent when it is considered that the various stock and mutual insurance companies writing workmen's compensation insurance report to the Superintendent of Insurance for the calendar year. Moreover, the policy periods in the State Insurance Fund commence on January 1 and July 1, and the calendar year thus becomes the natural reporting period. In this report we shall discuss briefly the history and organization of the Department of Labor and the work in its various bureaus. The separate bureau reports discuss fully the activities of those bureaus. HISTORY The Legislature of 1915 was confronted with the fact that there were two great state departments dealing in an intimate way with the industries of the state. The Department of Labor had been in existence for many years and as the state, from time to time, undertook new activities which were more or less closely related to labor and the industries of the state, provision was made for dealing with these subjects in the Department of Labor. This resulted in the creating of new bureaus in that Department from time to time. There was also in the Department of Labor an Industrial Board composed of four members appointed by the Governor, and the Commissioner of Labor, who was ex-officio an additional member and chairman. The Industrial Board was empowered to enact rules and regulations to carry into effect the provisions of the Labor Law with respect to sanitation, guarding of dangerous machinery, minimizing fire hazards, temperature conditions, and protection against dangerous fumes and gases. The Industrial Board also had power, under certain conditions and with certain limitations, to modify the law in order to avoid imposing unnecessary hardships upon certain industries. It should be noted that the Legislature, by the enactment of chapters 234 and 347 of the Laws of 1915, transferred to the Department of Labor that part of the work of the former Fire Marshal's Department that related to the inspection of boilers in factories and the storage and handling of explosives and the licensing of explosive magazines. Late in 1913, the Legislature enacted the first workmen's compensation law in this state, after the adoption of a constitutional amendment providing for such legislation. The law was re-enacted and amended in the early part of 1914. Under this law there was created the State Workmen's Compensation Commission composed of five commissioners appointed by the Governor, with the Commissioner of Labor ex-officio an additional member. The Compensation Law became effective July 1, 1914, and from and after that date all industrial accidents arising out of and in the course of employment in any of the hazardous employments named in the law, became compensable. This entailed a tremendous amount of work and the rapid creation of an organization to handle the work of examining claims and otherwise executing the provisions of the Compensation Law. Industrial accidents at the rate of approximately 1,000 a day were being reported to the Commission, about 150 of which each day were found to be compensable and became the subject of awards and payments by the Commission. On April 1, 1915, the Compensation Law was amended in very important particulars, allowing direct settlement of claims by the employer and employee, and advance payments by the employer and his reimbursement for such advance payments out of any award or agreement that might subsequently be made, and also requiring 1 |
